Thalo Halo

Thalo Halo, born Lou Gabriel, is a painter based in Geneva, Illinois, just outside Chicago. He grew up in a blue-collar family with little exposure to galleries or museums, his real introduction to art was graffiti on walls and train cars, and that origin still runs through everything he makes. "Street art is the art of the people," he has said of his work. "I like to think I paint murals you can take home and hang on your walls."

He earned an Associate Degree in Art from the Art Institute of Fort Lauderdale in 1986 and spent the following two decades away from painting entirely before returning to it in 2016. Since then, he's built a steady, prolific exhibition history across Chicago-area galleries, including Truborn, Galerie F, and Jackson Junge, with recent shows extending to Philadelphia and Portland. His collaged, cartoon-driven style channels pop culture and personal memory in equal measure, work that's landed him commissions from figures including U.S. Congresswoman Lauren Underwood and Island Def Jam Music Group's Lenny Santiago.